


Like Angels of a Feather

by Sandentwins



Series: Tales of Earth and Alternia [10]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Drug Use, F/M, Gang Violence, M/M, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-02-04 12:46:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1779610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandentwins/pseuds/Sandentwins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas, solitary and prone to self-harm, one day decides to end his boring and miserable life...leading him to the most strange encounter ever. With the help of John, he now has to use his gift to freed the world from an ancient evil. But living in a town where teen gangs make the rules has its downsides, and as a war between two rival factions begins, a way older conflict is revealed...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like any normal day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place in 2036, in Altownia, LA.  
> Also, I know nothing about drug trafficking and/or use, so some elements might be incorrect or outright fancy. So let me straight away play the "this is an alternate futuristic world where police can't do shit" joker.  
> Also, don't do drugs.

Today has been a normal day. And by that, I mean a shitty, horrible day.  
I woke up with the sound of my brother Korazu's alarm clock. As usual, he and Kankri were the first ones to the bathroom, leaving me with a dirtied sink and almost no hot water left. I was used taking showers in cold water, anyways. It was making my thoughts clear in the early morning. While making my way through the messy livingroom, I saw my dad still sleeping on the old, beer-soaked couch, TV having been on all night. Laying on the floor were some cans, unpaid bills and wrapping papers from fastfood. Without even being in his forties, my father was the perfect cliché of the jobless houseman with three children to feed. Talking about it, Kankri and Korazu's voices were coming from the kitchen. As I headed there, I heard them quarelling over the last spoonfulls of cherry jelly. Ignoring them, I managed to butter some toast and eat it in a corner of the dirty kitchen, next to the sink full of dishes, looking at the two teenagers at the table.  
Korazu 'Kora' Vantas, 19 years old, was the kind of boy that would be arrested for having drugs in his socks. I'm saying it that way as it had already happened the year before. Even since, he had kept smuggling various weeds and powders to our neighborhood's smokies. Only by the smell, he could tell the difference between autenthic cocaine and gross mimicking, and his expertise was always needed in big transactions. But only when he was conscious; some sniffings and he was gone in his imaginary world of hallucinations, which was about 3/4 of the time. Still, when he was sober, he was a nice guy and a protective bro.  
On the other hand, Kankri 'The Insufferable' Vantas was someone of a way other kind. The dark streets, the rejected kids and sometimes the prostitutes were his favorite kind of life. One would say he had spent more nights in a prison cell than his own bedroom, they would be close to right. Aged 22, he was often called a burden by Dad. After having quit school secretly, he had spent his days wandering outside, even if Dad knew it, and if Kankri knew he knew it. Irony and family tensions at their paroscysm... parcoxym...at their highest. For years, my only lullaby has been their voices arguing late in the night.

"Hey Kat, tell Ms Peixes I'm sick today.", Korazu said while rolling some cut weed from his left sock.

"-Fever?"

"-Yup."

Kankri was slowly getting Korazu into quitting and wander outside with their gang of rascals, the 'Red Bloods'. And of course, even if Kankri was their chief, he wouldn't let me in. Kora had earned his place because he was a fine dealer, but I hadn't got any 'street talents' to hope joining them someday.  
Kan took some dollars from Dad's wallet, and Kora picked up some white powder bags from under the fridge. His hideouts were amazing, and in places only he could tell. Even Kan couldn't enjoy a good joint without searching for hours. 

"Kan...you really can't drive me to school today?", I asked. "Road's too long for me."

"-Why would I bother carryin' you to that rathole while I got many important things to do?", he replied harshly, before leaving with Dad's car keys. 

My town was a real nest of freaks and dangerous teens. Wherever I went, there was always someone to steal my money or lunch. And if I couldn't go by car and didn't want to be late, the only road to school was going right through the 'Sea Dwellers' territory. It was too large to go around it, so I was counting on my luck not to be spotted by the purple hoodies.  
But luck has always been a bitch with me.

"Hey there motherfucker.", a clownish laugh said right before two usual bullies pinned me down.

After the usual lunch-and-shoes-stealing, I tried to make my way through the town, not without some mockers pointing at my crab socks.  
The lessons were boring as usual. I couldn't get a single word of what the teach was saying, these words were so complicated. The other kids seemed like they were perfectly understanding. Was it me who was stupid ? I had a look on my notebooks : full of little, silly drawings. Mostly crabs, or other crustaceans. I didn't know what I had with crabs, it was a running pattern in my family. Maybe because-  
Something suddenly hit my head, and fell on my table. It was a piece of paper. I took it and read what was written in a piss-colored ink.

« hey kk meet me over after 2chool behind the block itll be fun »

I turned around. Sandro Captor, a little bastard with 3D glasses, was acting so innocent and nerdy even through I've recognized his writing. What would happen anyways ? That'd be better than these stupid classes. Why did I take Biology again ? Wasn't as if knowing how insect genes were made would make a great change in my life. When the bell rang, I was one of the first going out. I didn't even take the homework ; no time for these things. Being reported for that every week isn't that bad once you get used to it.  
Behind the school was where the druggies used to hang out and smoke joints away from the younger students. Korazu has started his « career » in this old, abandoned sportsground, which was always promised expensive reamenagments that were of course never done. Today, only Gaetan Makara's crew of bullies were here, drown in their stinky smoke. Why did Sandro even invited me there ? I wasn't really interested in drugs ; I have tried Korazu's some years ago, and nearly died out of intoxication. 

« Sup. », I said to the boy in a yellow hoodie.

«-Hey Kay-Kay », he replied lisping, «what'f up ? I've heard your bro waf out of jail now. Feemf like the Red Bloodf baftard is totally free of doing ruckus in town, right ? »

«-Don't talk about Kankri this way, asshole. What do you want from me ?»

« -Like if fomeone could ever need you, heh. »

He had a glance upwards. I followed his look, only to see two silhouettes peeking out of the 3rd floor's window. They were holding a bucket.

«That'f for what you did two Jade. », he just said before backing away. « I'll never let anyone infult her, especially not _you_. »

I didn't have the time to get the information, I was showered in a sticky, thick substance that made me cough. I had gotten some in my mouth, in the most disgusting way possible. Curiously, it was sweet.

« ...honey ? Why would- »

« -Hey motherfucker ! », Gaetan suddenly shouted between two joints. « Watch for dem' bugs, bro ! »

I suddenly heard a buzzing sound, coming from where Sandro and his twin siblings had disappeared. That's when I remembered there was a beehive in the science lab, which the bastard had custody today.  
Just any normal day.

–-

I fell on my bed, totally exhausted, hungry, shoeless, my hair slimy with honey, stung from everywhere and covered in cigarette butts thrown by older kids. On top of all, Kankri and Dad were fighting again, having paid no attention to me at all. Korazu was out there with his friends, leaving me alone in our shared room. Good.  
I opened the drawer of my nightstand, where I was putting my notebooks. Under the papers there was a small, red carnet, that everybody would mistake as a diary of sorts. But when I opened it with a special mechanism I have learnt on Internet, it opened like a coffin, revealing my precious collection.  
I have started it some years ago, after finding forums on the Web totally focused on it. Since then I have gathered these wonderful pieces from almost everywhere. Either given by other teens or bought by myself, they were shining under the pale light, polished and sharpened, ready for use. I chose the number 12, the slightly curved one that I have found in a shop during a school trip. The blade which I have first cut my elbows with.  
As I took it next to my pale skin, I felt a slight tickling wave. When metal and flesh met, something in my brain pleaded me to go on. It was hurting, but it was a good kind of pain. Like the one you feel when you love : it hurts badly but you want more, you _need_ more. Nobody in my family knew, because they didn't care about me at all. Nobody liked me anyways.  
Once my work was done, I carefully cleaned the cutter blade, and put it back nicely in its plastic socket. I hid the red book, and lay down on my bed, watching the blood slowly drip from my forearm, falling on the bedsheets, and disappearing into red flowers. This was always calming me down...but for some reasons, it didn't this time. This has been going on for some days already, for no reason. No matter how I would cut myself, that just...wouldn't work. Maybe that meant...I should get over it and try something else. Something different.  
I looked by the window. The trees were waving their branches in the wind, seeming so small when seen from the sixth floor. There was no one outside. I opened it carefully, reminding myself about how they'd need some cleaning. I sat on the edge, held by no handlebars of sorts, looking at the cars parked down there. One push and I would fall all the way down, maybe land on Mr Zahhak's blue car, break several bones and die from blood loss with no one to see it.  
No one has ever seen me anyways.  
I slightly leaned over, only held by the window's edge. Life was so boring anyways, so why bother ? I know it was cowardly, but it would all end. Just...one little push...only one...  
That's when I heard it. A small trill.  
I rose my head, to see...a pigeon ? No, it was smaller. A small bird, blue like a crab. And it was _trilling_ , that happy little bastard. My hands were busy trying to keep me on the edge, and I used my feet to chase it. Seriously, why would I need a tit as the only witness of my death ?  
But, somehow...it didn't look like an ordinary pigeon. The bird landed on the window I was sitting in, and stared at me. Seriously...a bird with intelligence ? That was so weird.  
But that wouldn't stop me. I took a deep breath, and let go of what held me to the physical world.  
I felt myself falling, and felt relieved. I should have wrote a letter, maybe ? Nah, nobody would ever bother reading it. What if I only fell in a coma ? I have read stories about failed suicides, some being quite hardcore, but defenestrating and falling down six times four meters would leave very few chances of missing. With luck it wouldn't even hurt.  
Ah, who am I kidding? That _would_ hurt ! Fuck, why did I even _think_ about that way !? I could have used a rope, or cutting my wrists off, but why falling from SO FUCKING HIGH !?

« F...fuck... », I whined, as the ground was dangerously coming closer.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, as each hundreth of second was more and more of a torture. I was sorry...so sorry.  
And then I heard the trill again.  
So suddenly I didn't expect it at all, I felt myself grabbed upwards, as if the wind was pushing me, and something pressing around my chest. I opened my eyes slightly, and saw the car park going away from me...and a wing. A blue, gigantic wing, which feathers were tickling me. I blinked, and found myself on my bed again. My breath was wheezing, every square centimeter of my body shivering in fear. Trying to know what the fuck was going on. The wind suddenly became stronger, before completely vanishing. A glance towards the now closed window informed me that the blue bird had also disappeared, only leaving a feather on my pillow. It was dark blue with a lighter tip, and as big as my hand. That certainly wasn't a tit's.That's when I remembered what was the pressure on my body : arms. Arms that have gotten out of nowhere to grab me and save me from death, but again, birds didn't have arms. I looked at the blue feather ; it was reflecting the sun in a hundred of rainbows. It was too bizarre, even for me.  
Besides, it was a normal day.


	2. The end of normal days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late, have many work these times.

The mystery of the blue feather was hardly making its way through my head. Many times I have tried to remember what had exactly happened this evening, to no avail. I haven't told Dad or my brothers about it : they had other problems to deal with. I could only count on myself to solve this weird case. And trust me, I was doing a real investigation shit.  
After class, during a gap hour, I did what I've never done before : going to the library. During my research about blue tits and suicides, I found...nothing at all. There was no fucking link. I felt like I was losing my time, when something suddenly caught my eye. A drawing book about mythical creatures...on the cover was an angel's sketch. I glared at the smiling face, its chubby cheeks, and the small feathery wings. I shook my head ; this couldn't be possible. It was just a coincidence. I ignored it, going back to the ornithology book I was reading. But where I surprised myself was when I _actually_ borrowed it, along with the drawing book. That could come in handy later.

–-

Once back at home (with no shoes as usual), I sat on my bed and took my red diary. Was I really in the mood for that ? These times I was cutting with no real reason, just to keep the habit. I considered putting it back and keep reading or doing my homework. Or try to get my bros to stop fighting. Or... ah, fuck it. I wasn't in mood to do any of that. Sighing, I opened it and flipped the pages, where the metal blades were taped on. Curved, straight, long or short, made of steel or other metals, I had a hard time choosing. But today, the #9 was more appealing, the one with carved arabesques I have ordered on Internet. I gently took it out of its sheath and admired the reflecting light on the sharp side. With an expert gesture, I approached it from my skin.

« I would not do that if I were you. »

This startled me. Did Korazu suddenly saw me ? But when I went checking, it turned out the door was firmly locked as usual. Bizarre. I sat back on my bed, and picked up my razor from where I hid it, going back at my self-harming.

« Did you hear me, you rapscallion ? I told you to stop. »

Okay, now that was becoming creepy. I looked around me, but there was no one. Not like if I even knew who that voice belonged to. I checked in the closet, even under my bed, but there was no one to be seen.  
A shiver ran down my spine.  
I put the blade back in the book, machinally, and started looking for where the voice came from. But even outside, there was no one. I could have least believed it was all a prank from some guy who'd climb the wall up tho the sixth floor...but now that was only creepy. I closed the window, and sat on my matress, still questioning myself....and slowly, so slowly I barely noticed it, a small blue feather fell onto my knees. I picked it up, and rose my head to see where it came from.

« Greetings, Karkat ! », the smiling blue-eyed boy said.

I screamed in panic, crawling back to the wall, trying to escape from...whoever was hanging from my ceiling. But as he descended from there and got to my level, I started calming down.

« Are you alright ? », he asked. « I hope I did not scare you, didn't I ? »

I blinked severeal time, pinched my cheek, to ensure I wasn't dreaming. But no, the boy in front of me was not a dream apparition of any sorts. Even if something in his appearance was...disturbing.

« I apologize for appearing out of the blue, but I needed to meet you. »

He now was sitting right in front of me. In the light shadow of the window's light, his large blue eyes were piercing like sapphires, staring right at me. His black and elaborated hair contrasted with his queerly pale skin, and two teeth were pointing out of his smile. On top of all, his clothes seemed to come from another world, or rather a museum : an antiquated, blue suit ornamented with golden leaves.

« So...you are the one they have assigned to me, then. You are smaller than I thought. »

I shook my head, trying to think clearly, and grabbed him by his fancy vest.

« Who are you and what the fuck are you doing in my room !? », I shouted to his face.

And then, something even more strange happened. The sudden move of course scared the museum mannequin, who jumped back- disappearing in a burst of blue light. When I opened my eyes again, blinded by the sudden flash, I saw the blue tit from yesterday, hiding between the sheets of Korazu's bed. 

« ...now _that_ is strange. », I whispered. 

The bird slowly got out of its hiding, and the blue flash blinded me again, before the blue boy reappeared. 

« Please do never do that again. », he said stuttering.

« -What does it costs you to tell me who you are, why you're here and especially, how you're doing that. »

The boy smiled, and flew up to sit right next to- wait, whaaaaaat !? What, did he just...grew wings ?

« Wh...what the fuck are these ? », I asked, trying to hide the fear in my voice.

He didn't seem to get what I was talking about, and raised an eyebrow. Something...I couldn't tell what, but something in his look, other than the 19th century-like rags, was strange. His European accent, maybe ?

« I cannot help but see you are staring at my back protrusions, in quite an impolite way. But I can guess you are surprised, so I won't remark it. »

« -But you just did. »

« -Pardon me, then. »

I shook my head once again, and tried to calm down my heartrate. A fucking angel-like guy was in my room, for fuck's sake !

« Also, », he said, « pardon my bad manners. I haven't even introduced myself : John Egbert de Lowas, pour vous servir~ »

His slight bowing was both hilarious and respectful. I tried not to laugh.

« And...what are you doing there ? And why are you dressed like a clown ? », I asked.

« -That is...my casual habit. _You_ are the one dressed like a clown. »

I only had a raggedy jogging on, but next to Birdy, I was looking like a hobo.

« And to answer your first question, the great cosmic balance has decided you needed the help of a Guardian Angel. »

I nearly choked when he said that.

« Wait...guardian angel ? But...wh...why so ? And...why me !? »

« -Your situation had made clear that you were in need for help. You see, Karkat Vantas, you have something uncommom, a very special thing some people would not like you to waste, especially not by ending your life. Don't ask me what, I do not have any clues. But as you obviously are this desperate, to stop you from doing very stupid actions, such as defenestrating yourself, I have been called to help you. »

The information took a very long time to make its way through my head, but I eventually came to understand what John was saying.

« So...you're a guardial angel, right ? », I hesitantely asked.

« -Indeed. »

« -And...you can turn into a bird ? »

« -A side advantage, but I do. »

To demonstrate it, he turned into the blue pigeon I've seen earlier. I took the blue feather from under my pillow : it was identical to his'.

« You saved me yesterday, didn't you ? »

« -Please do not make me have to do so, ever again. Quelle erreur de ta part.»

Yep, definitely French accent. 

« And...what are you going to do now ? »

« -We'll see about that, it will be a nice occasion to know each other. »

Before I could ask anything else, the room's door opened (I thought I have...locked it?). Korazu walked in, took a joint from his pocket, opened the window and lit it up, smoking with a delighted sigh.

« You tell Dad and I'll kick your butt. », he said between two breathes of smelly smoke. « Hi John. »

« -Hello. », the latter cheerfully answered. « How is your father going ? »

« -Sleeping. As usual.»

He seemed like he knew the angel, as if he was an old friend, but there was something under it, I would swear. Once his weed cigarette finished, he threw it out, blissfully grinning, and left without a word. I turned to John : his wings had disappeared, and the fancy suit he has been wearing was now a blue sweatshirt identical to mine, although in blue.

« H...how did you do that !? », I questioned, both startled and amazed. 

« -Angels can alter people's memories so they can follow their protégés around without others suspecting anything. I made your brother think I was a friend you have met in summercamp years ago. »

« -I've never been to summercamp. »

« -Angel powers, you did three years ago. We went with my parents and some other friends, or at least that's what everyone now thinks. For the clothes, I just mimicked yours, as mine wouldn't fit the current epoch.»

I nodded, stunned. 

« So...you plan to follow me all day for an uncertain period of time, just to ensure I won't kill myself ? »

« -And we'll make a lot of new friends ! Don't you find that exciting ? »

I rolled my eyes, but smiled. Afterall, why not ? Better angels coming out of nowhere than boring routine.

« Deal. », I said, clenching my hand for a brofist.

« -Why would you want to punch me this suddenly ? », he asked nervously.

« -Wh... ? Ah, that's just a friendly custom. Look, like this. » I added, bumping our fists together.

He stayed silent for a second, then chuckled.

« This century's customs are quite exquisite. »

And so was the end of my normal days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lowas is a small French-speaking territory near the Twin Isles Derse and Prospit, hence why John who grew up there has such un accent comique. And yes, the same isles as in "The Kingdoms' Cancer", but you've gotten that.


	3. A very good day

You might wonder why I didn't flip out that much after learning about John and the guardian angels. Well, since I was little, I had grown with the classic fairy tales known by everyone. Dragons, giant crabs and pixies were a world I had to quit very early, due to the reality catching me back at Mom's death, when I was 3. But somewhere in my heart, it was still here, and John was the proof it was true.  
This morning, he decided to escort me to school. I had wanted to warn him about the Sea Dwellers, but that didn't seemed much of a problem for him. I tried to convince me so, but my foot had already crossed the limit of their territory.

"Hey, look whose motherfuckers are there!", the voice of Gaetan Makara resonated between the alleys.

I swallowed hardly, but John held my hand like an older brother.

"And who's that, huh?", Erwan Ampora asked, pointing at John. "New playin' buddy?"

My angelic friend smiled.

"If you would like to play, I'll gladly accept your demand."

Ampora grinned, revealing his gold tooth.

"Get them."

What happened then was a complete mystery. I saw John, opening his arms to the bullies, and with a sudden burst of lightning, the Sea Dwellers have been knocked out, laying on the ground. The angel hadn't moved at all, surprisingly.

"What do you say now?", he asked with a malicious smile.

Ampora flipped out, and ran away, leaving John and I laughing our butts off. 

"Why did I never met you before?", I asked.

"-Because you would have not needed me now, thus forbidding you to ever meet me."

I stayed interrogative for a second, but resumed walking - this time with my shoes on.  
When entering the gates of the school's court, everyone stopped chatting to stare at John. Some whispers came from groups of students, making the angel giggle. I didn't get what was going on, and put it on the fact it was angelic powers once again. During classes, the teachers didn't ask anything about the "new student", as if he has been there the whole year. This day, I have felt something very weird. But it wasn't until end of classes that things became even weirder.  
In the court, Sandro Captor and Jade Harley were exchanging disgusting kiss-like mimicks. When John saw it, his face made a strange expression I would have trouble describing. I smiled, explaining him that it wasn't that sexual in 21th century, but he didn't listen. Instead, he walked to the blonde boy.

"Bonjour, my friend.", he declamed. "Say, what is the use of a steam engine?"

Jade seemed not to get it, but Sandro curiously smirked.

"I don't know, Freund. Wath thith even pothible in the East thide?"

John nodded, and walked back to me, resuming our conversation like if nothing happened at all. But, I eventually asked him about what it meant.

"That's a codename used by angels, to find other ones. This one comes from Germany, in times it was set apart between four nations."

"-You can't mean..."

"-Captor's an angel. Seeing how he is attracted to Jade, a guardian-type one."

I whistled in admiration. Those feathersacks had such powers! I could have stayed years before even guessing this pisshaired douche was a supernatural being. On the spot, I thought of something else.

"Tell me...are there _more_ people I know who are angels?"

"-Not an easy question. There's no way I can point at a random stranger and say, they're an angel. But there are some tricks."

While walking, he showed two youngsters eating candies on a house's porch: Theresa Pyrope, lead of the Law class, and one who had lame shades.

"Look at how that boy takes his time to eat these sugary confections, even if they have plenty of those. Probably he's from a time when sugar was considered a luxury, I would say Roman time. He keep his eyes hidden, as it was said that red eyes were the signature of Mars, the god of war, and has been persecuted for that his whole life. Look at how unsure he seems."

"-Whoah, you're so amazing! So...that works?"

"-Not at all. I just happen to know him.", John smirked. 

He made me mute for a second. Clever boy.  
On the way back home, no one did bother me at all, for once in years. Kankri was nowhere to be seen, and Kora was outside dealing with the older Makara brother, who needed something to keep his girlfriend under control (better not guess what for.), so Dad, John and I were the only ones at home. 

"Hi Dad.", I greeted as I walked across the livingroom, between tossed cans of cheap beer and crumpled papers.

"-'mornin...", he mumbled in his sleep.

"-Say, Dad, John and I will be doing our homework. Hope you don't mind."

"-'hmmmfine...just don't make noise."

"-Okay."

"-Sleep well, Mr Vantas."

I locked the room's door as a reflex. John sat on my bed, next to I.

"What are we going to do, now?", I asked.

"-What would you like to do, now?", he replied smiling. "When the sky is the limit, you don't think about what we can do or not. You do it, that's all."

I turned this sentence in my head for a long moment, trying to decipher John's enigmatic language.

"Yeah...so, as I said, what can we do now?"

"-Oh, humans and their boredom. Hey, I've got a fun game for you."

I rose an eyebrow, interested.

"First, close your eyes."

I asked myself what he would do, but for the love of mystery, I complied. Once my eyelids lowered, I felt him taking my hands in his'.

"Now, imagine the prettiest sky you've ever seen. The colour you want, with clouds or not, it's up to you. But picture yourself a sky underneath which you feel at peace."

There was one of these sceneries I have always remembered. Kankri, Kora and I in our younger years. Dad, smiling and well-being. And Mommy, before cancer got her. A happy family, playing under the trees, in the fall leaves, like children we were. And the sky, back in these peaceful days, was so orange it looked red to me. I remember the pink cloud trails flying across this sanguine immensity, and how it had amazed me.  
Suddenly, I felt something odd going on. My body seemed...lighter? It was a very unusual feeling, as if all my sorrows have been taken away. John's hands griped mine tighter, and suddenly became all warm. This heat was going through me: my arms, my chest, then my whole body, down to my littlest toe or the tip of my ears. On the moment, it felt amazingly good. It was even better than a cup of warm milk after running under the rain, or a soft bed when you have been the bullied of the day once again. I smiled lightly: I was at peace.

"Open your eyes.", he said.

I obeyed...and stayed stunned.  
John had his wings back on, still holding my hands. He was flying way above the clouds, in a way where I wouldn't be disturbed by the acceleration. I had a look down; my feet were hundred of meters above the ground. As a reflex, I grabbed John's hands as tightly as I could. But he told me to stay calm, and keep thinking about the peaceful sceneries of my childhood. I closed my eyes, remembering how happy we all were back that day. I felt John letting go of me, but I never fell. His magic was lifting me up as we flew together. It was amazing, a feeling of liberty I've never enjoyed before. He took my hand in his', and pulled me closer with his wing. 

"Isn't that a good way to spend some time?", he asked.

I nodded, wondered by the small houses and cars below my feet. The angel and I flew down, as the magic was running out, and landed on a tall roof, from where we wouldn't be seen. 

"You...you're amazing.", I let out.

"-And so are you."

I snuggled in his blue wing, which was large enough to be a blanket to me. And I think that's about when I fall asleep, cuddled by angel feathers.  
When I woke up, night had set since long. John was in his bird form, perched on a bookshelf, taking a nap. This boy really was amazing. I didn't need my red book tonight; I was already happy.

\---

The two hooded figures walked inbetween the cars, where from came angry shoutings about pedestrians. They didn't even bother looking where they were putting their silent feet, for danger was unknown to them. The shortest of the two was following their elder, telling them directions across the large town. The tallest was barely paying attention to what was going on around them, only listening to the young one behind them. In some minutes, they arrived to a suburbian flat complex, which walls were graffed all over and windows broken by stone throws, only covered by some tape. 

"Are you sure it's there?", the elder asked.

"-I have been there several times. It is.", the short one replied. "The Inspiration is there."

"-Why waiting? Let's go and take it."

"-Not so fast. We need it to mature, first of all. And I put the best one I could on the case."

"-You mean Egbert? He's barely a newreborn!"

"-Don't mistrust my judgements. I have been doing the matchmaker for centuries, so if I know anything about that, be sure I'm never wrong."

The shortest rubbed their hands together.

"It's only a matter of time now...the Inspiration will be ready very soon."

"-I hope so."

Without a noise and anyone to see it, they disappeared in a shadow corner.


	4. Inspirational day

People often get a wrong idea of angels.  
Influenced by religions and ideals, they picture angels as pure, helpful and agender, serving the good and having large feather wings.  
Well, most angels aren't made this way. Except for the wings. But some angels are evil and corrupted. They get called "fallen angels" or "demons" for humans, but here at Feathers Inc. we refer to them as Cherubs.  
Good thing, I wasn't a Cherub.  
I sat on my desk, searching among piles of papers, files and various notes. Each of them reminded me of something, a word, a face, a smile, an order. I hated this job, but no one else could do it, despite all the angels working here.  
Because not all angels had the same abilities. Most were Guardian angels; the classic type, created to help and protect those who needed it. There were also Escort angels, who're skilled with gathering the dead's souls and bring them to a better place, called "Heaven", "Paradise", "Nirvana" or things the like, or sometimes reincarnate them if they died of an accident. Also, I'd like to add that the "Hell" and "Devil" are bullcrap. Why would you get tortured by an evil being for...well, being bad? That's nonsense. And about myself...well, I sometimes think the role of Guardian is wasting my skills.  
I took a glimpse at another file:

Sandro Captor, Guardian-class angel, born 02/12/1956 in East Germany of unknown ascendance, died 08/15/1969 (shot down), speciality: none. Linked to: Jade Harley; protect from Erwan Ampora.

It was attached to another sheet with a glittery paper clip.

Jade Harley, human, born 12/01/96 of Jake English and Joey Deerlight in South Pacific Island, speciality: Keeper.  
Linked to: Sandro Captor; protected from Erwan Ampora.

Keepers are heck of a thing, I thought while fluttering to another pile of files. They keep track of everything that had happened since their birth, memorizing every detail, and are good historians. Too bad they're annoying.  
I searched through the humongous mass of angelic paper, grumbling at my predecessor who said computers were evil, and chose a file with a great care. One false movement and I'd have to clean up millenias of records.

Karkat Vantas, human, born 06/12/2018 of Kyle Vantas and unknown, speciality: unknown. Linked to: John Egbert; protected from suicide.

The Vantas family...a really troubling case. Especially the son. I have met him not much ago, but he was in need of angels' help. So he has been given an angel, and here I was. But I still had to play my part, and I knew it would be coming soon. My protégé always had a way to put himself in trouble, especially when it was coming to other kids. These junkies wouldn't stop harassing him, especially the drugged ones. But thanks to them I have found the perfect role to play.  
Suddenly, I heard a voice calling me outside. Putting the papers back in the registers, I flew out in the white corridors, among the offices of Feathers Inc., where busy angels would spend their time working as functionaries for life's sake. I followed the familiar colored wings above the crowd of angels, lost souls and other ghosts. We flew in the veils of mist and fog for about a minute, until we reached one of the Silence rooms. Here, no one could even hear us; that was useful if we had to discuss about confidential things.  
The other angel took her hood off, revealing a mass of ginger hair covering her shoulders. She was really pretty, even if her eyes were full of ghosts of the past. 

"Have you found anything useful?", she asked.

I showed her the data of Karkat Vantas. She took it, reading the few information available.

"I think it's what you wanted. But no one has found his speciality yet, even not I."

"-You've been doing this mission for a long time already...and yet you tell me no one knows anything about him? I have put all of my trust in you, Four Eyes, and you know it."

"-That wasn't part of my contract. But...listen, I'll see what I can do about it...I promise you'll have answers."

"-Don't fail me again, kiddo."

There was irony in her voice when saying that last word. I nodded, and she flew away.  
I let myself fall through the transportation node hidden in the mist, and landed in Karkat's room, no one to be seen around. Taking my human form and modern clothes, I sat on the drugged brother's bed, and waited for my human to come.  
While searching about Karkat, I'd better have a talk with Kankri as well. He could give me some crucial information. 

\---

"Kora, can you give me your homework? I have been stolen mine again."

He didn't reply, too dazed to think. Next to me, John chuckled.

"Don't tell me he's always like this."

I shrugged, and kept packing my stuff, under John's watching eyes.

"Still...I don't think I can make it this time.", I sighed. "Ampora won't let me alone."

"-You'll be safe with me, mon ange. Isn't that my mission?"

I smiled, and sat on my bed, watching Korazu drawing circles of smoke in the air with his joint. John always had a minty breeze aura that'd protect my lungs from being harmed from the marijuana vapors.

"Sure your buddy won't like some?", Kora asked, pointing his cigarette at the angel.

"-Non merci."

"-Ain't bad at all. My personal reserve."

I have always wondered how his brain could stay working with so much substances in it. Or how it could be possible to support that much weed at once. But again, Kora was Kora.  
Suddenly, Kankri bursted into the room, and shook our brother violently, spreading ashes everywhere on the dirty bedsheets.

"What the fuck, man?", he asked.

"-Ain't no time for that. The Bluebloods are on a huge case. A hundred pounds of fucking snow are in gamble right now."

"-Need a check?"

"-We need ya."

In two seconds, they were gone. A minute later, the noise of Kankri's car was fading away, probably to some illegal casino in Beach Forus. The Bluebloods, from what I knew, owned several gaming houses and loved to gambel. Gable. To play poker.  
While they were away, John took his angel form back, to save some energy. Tired as well, I lay down on my blankets, watching his wings moving up and down with his breath, his feathers stroked by a soft and invisible breeze. His outfit, despite being so delicate and ass-rich, had been roughly cut at the back to let these get through: two long holes allowed the wings to sprout out. I could see the part where skin and feathers merge, with a nice transition in some places, and patchily in others, as if his wings have been awkwardly sewn to his back. Without much thinking, I reached out to the feathery protusions, delicately touching that one place where blueish duvet started forming. John shivered, and his feathers rose up as goosebumps were forming. But he didn't tell me anything; judging from his expression, it was rather as it was feeling good. I let my fingers trace a line, going from the base of his wings to the knee-like joint, where they were folded forwards, then descended my hand to the very tip of his cerulean feathers. John's eyes fluttered close.

"Please don't stop.", I heard him mutter.

I smiled. Was that turning him on? As I kept stroking his wings, following the way the feathers were pointing, listening to his slight moans, I turned over the question in my head. Could angels feel pleasure? Did they even have genitals? They were supposed to be dead...so if they did, and if they had relations with humans, was that necrophilia? I retracted my hand, grossed out by the thought, to the angel's disappointance.

"Why did you stop?", he pouted.

"-...sorry. It's just...that's...weird."

And trust me, I have seen weird situations. For long, my father had claimed he had a past life in an islandic country where trolls still existed. And as for my mother...well, people told me she was way weirder.  
My family tree was full of weirdos, and yet I haven't seen everything.

"That's fine.", John sighed with irony. "It isn't like if I really...liked it."

I looked at him, interrogative. Did angels really have the concept of arousal?

"Dude. You're dead. I'm alive. See...the point?"

He looked at me, the bursted out laughing. 

"Karkat, where did you find that idea? Oh please...let me explain."

He sat closer to me, and wrapped his wing around me. His feathers on my skin were way beyond soft, almost surreal.

"I'm not entirely dead. Rather...frozen in time. I can never age anymore and physical changes, such as injuries, can't reach me. But even if my body is quite old, my mind is still that of a young lad, freshly gotten out of childhood and entering adult age." 

His azure eyes seemed to stare right into my soul as he stared at me. Even Dad who liked to compliment my greenish irises would have to admit, John's were full of stars and waves. 

"I have been through the same trials as you, and knew as well...some uses that have disgusted me more than once...and in fact were nothing really unconventional. I swear."

I stopped returning his stare, and he sighed.

"I am not dead. That's it. Now please go back using these skilled hands of yours, being an angel is tiring and I at least deserve a good wing massage for protecting you all day."

I didn't add a word, and stroked his wings as he asked. It was rather pleasant, and his skin was warm under my hands. I couldn't feel any trace of a heartbeat though; the alive-likeness was stopping there. Burying my palms in the feathers, I got another sound of delight from the angel. I didn't know why, but I felt like adding some words to the scene.

"I don't care whether you're alive or not. You're my friend, and that's all. No need to be alive to be the coolest guy I can ever hope to meet."

John smiled, revealing his goofy buckteeth.

"The coolest, ever. In fact...no one I know could ever be cooler than you. You're the best, John. Ever."

On these words, something strange happened. John, who seemed quite tense until now, suddenly eased his whole body, laying down on the bed. His wings unfolded halfway, as hands do when tension releases. His breath slowed down, but he wasn't asleep. I felt worried for a second, before realizing he was just...feeling good. As if every weight or responsability has been lifted off his shoulder. And as weird as it seemed, my hands had this effect...  
Or maybe it was my words. And that was even weirder.  
But hey, words couldn't change anyone, right?  
Right?

\---

I looked at the file my contact gave me. No way they couldn't have found anything yet! Not when Feathers Inc. was needing it the most. I was about to put it down and try looking elsewhere, when a sudden energy wave hit me.  
It didn't harm me in any way...but on the contrary, I felt my worries leave my mind. I stopped thinking about Vantas. About my duty. About everything. It was magic...and at the same time, intriguing.  
In the way it hit me, there was something which couldn't lie about who did this, and why no one around me felt it. I looked at Karkat Vantas' name once again, and all the available data.

Speciality: unknown.

I grinned to myself, aware that soon, this file would need an update. And then, my eyes happened to venture to the top of the page.

Born of Kyle Vantas and unknown.

Putting it back in its folder, I decided not to meddle with this anymore. Why would anyone care about whether the other parent of the Vantas boys was known or not?

"I would care.", I muttered to myself.  
With a sigh, I flew up some offices, until I reached my contact's. Of course, he was absent; I put the file on his desk, with a note written as such:

"Four Eyes,  
Did you feel the Inspiration too? If so, come meet me asap. We need to discuss some things about its return. Bring some cookies while you're at it.  
-Soulseer"

The return of the Inspiration had to stay secret. No need for angels to freak out about one of the most powerful weapons ever put in the hands of humans. Even if it could bring a solution to the problem of the Cherubs.  
That was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat's dad is Kyle from [The Kingdoms' Cancer](http://archiveofourown.org/works/918733).


	5. A day that first seemed normal

"Leavin' already? You jerk."

Kankri seemed more and more stressful as he picked another card. A whole bunch of various drugs was currently in bet, and this whore of Arania Serket was about to get it all. Afterall, the crew of Mindfang wasn't the luckiest in town for nothing.  
Watching around, I slapped Gaetan's hand, which was getting too close to the snow packed on a nearby table. The Bluebloods were really close to the Sea Dwellers, and having both of them at the same place, betting against the Red Bloods, was really hard for both Kan and I.  
Kankri decided to follow the game, and put his last chips on the board. Seeing how Serket was cheating, the Reds would lose two thousand dollars worth of cocaine by a simple game of cards.  
Yet they didn't know how lucky I was.

"I'm screwed.", Kankri muttered. "All I'd need is a red ace, else I'll lose everything."

The feeling was the same for me. We needed to establish our dominance over these freaks, and rule the underground buisness. I grinned, seeing his worry, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Pick a card."

He turned his head around and looked at me funny, not used to such advice about how to play poker. Especially from me.

"Pick a card. Trust me, bro."

He stayed silent, but seeing my confident smile, he followed my advice, having nothing left to lose.

"I never said I'd leave. Give me one.", he declared.

I blinked, trusting my luck. Never it has left me, even in the worst situations. Kankri closed his eyes, and added the card to his hand.  
Ace of Hearts. 

"Royale Flush.", Kankri grinned, showing his cards to the amazed Blues. "Think I win this one, Spider8itch."

Under the applauses of our crew, he gave out his most triumphalish face, soon slapped by Arania and her mother Victoria. I opened one of the white bags, now sole property of the Red Bloods.

"Two grams for everyone, people.", I announced to our gang. "But we're fair players, so we'll let the vapors to the Blues."

Among the general laughter and the druggies rushing to their credit cards, Kankri turned to me, while tracing snow lines on the poker table. 

"Kora...", he stuttered, still amazed. "...how did you...how did you do that?"

I chuckled. The secrets had to be kept.

"I did nothing. You're the lucky one. All I did was to tell you to trust your instinct."

I handed him a straw, and gave him a pat on the back. The contents of the drug loot being dispatched between everyone present, the Blues leaving out of disgust, I headed out of the house where the casino was hosted.  
A nice, cloudy weather. It was quite cold for an autumn afternoon, but not enough for leaves to die out. Still, it made me shiver. I lit up a joint from my pocket, and led it to my lips, trying to heat me up. The usual feeling of diziness rose to my head as I breathed in, my senses becoming duller. I sat on the porch, letting the vapors invade my head. I started to feel anxious, shivering more, but at the same time a wave of delight trailed through me. I let go of my emotions, wanting to drown in that feeling. It was so good, even after years of smoking drugs. Maybe because these were my own crop of weed. I always have put lots of care into my plants. And now, they were part of my own care.  
I arched my back, my head rolling from side to side. Colors started to change, to fade, to become brighter. I smiled, relieved of my thoughts. Nothing could ever stop me.

"Korazu!?"

I suddenly woke up from my transe, not without some pain, and turned around. Kankri was there, staring at me, shaking in fright.

"Wh...what is that?", he asked. "You...you...what the fuck, dude?"

I rose an eyebrow, and followed his finger, which was pointing at me. He knew how stoned I could look, so that couldn't be startling him... Suddenly, after an usual glance around, I understood what he was talking about, frightened. Under the effects of the smokes, I have let my guard down.  
I stood up in a flash, and covered Kankri's eyes with my hands.

"You haven't seen anything. That was your imagination. That was the weeds, dude. The weeds."

While talking, I put my half-finished joint in Kankri's mouth. The vapors seemed to ease him.

"Dude...that's fine.", I kept whispering into his ears. "You are completely stoned."

I let go of my hands, and forced Kankri to lie down. He was already muttering uncomprehensible things, dazed off. I smiled: the catastrophe has been avoided. Good thing that trick worked even when I was under influence of my substances, albeit not as good. I looked over my shoulder; the streets were empty. Only Kankri has seen my mistake.  
Good.  
I covered my back with my ripped jacket, not without some difficulty. I knew I should have quit drugs years ago, but old uses were too deep-rooted. Looking at my shivering hand, I noticed all the blemishes, the burnt fingers, the veins appearing under the paper-pale skin. All the marks of an horrible life. The life of Korazu Vantas. His life more than mine.  
The wind was rising up. I knew I should get going, else I might get in trouble. Coughing off my smoked out lungs, I took Kankri on my back, and departed for Altownia. Both of us were too dazed to drive twenty miles home, and the other Reds were probably as well. None of us had money for a cab, and buses would never accept us in with our red eyes. My feet wouldn't bear such a walk while under weed.  
Was it worth some cheating about transportation? I guess no one would discover it. Afterall, who would take the time to look out of the window and see what two drugged youngsters would be doing, in a city full of freaks?  
I took off my jacket, and wrapped Kankri in it. He'd need a good rest after so much emotions. I would like a warm bed as well.  
Carrying him on my shoulders, I started running. 

 

\---

"Do you think they'll be back?"

I looked at my watch. 23h49. Dad had fallen asleep in front of the shitty sitcom we were watching. John had altered his memories, making him believe he was staying the night.

"Honestly, I don't know.", he replied. "Why would you suddenly care about them?" 

"-I can feel bad for assholes if I want to.", I pouted.

He shrugged, playing with a potato chip. Dad mumbled something in his sleep, about how Mom had soft hair.  
I missed her a lot, too.  
John stood up, bored of watching the "theater-box", and made his way through the old cans.

"Don't you have some books?", he asked, searching through the shelves.

"-Look between the CDs. Dad used to read some."

Leaving him to his readings, I grabbed the remote and zapped through the channels, sipping a leftover of soda. There was nothing to watch on these late hours. Maybe I should do my homework instead? Augh, why bother, I haven't wrote it down. Maybe I can steal it from Kora. Or maybe I could forget it once again and blame it on my sick father. Yeah, maybe.

"Oh, regardez-moi ces petites fesses~", John suddenly giggled.

I turned around, and saw him holding a small book. He fluttered to me, showing me...the photos inside. 

"Of all the romance novels there, you have chosen the family album."

"-Why not?"

I shrugged. Driven by curiosity, I glanced at the photos.  
Dad and Mom's first dates. Their wedding. Their friends. Mom, pregnant with Kankri. I smiled.

"She looks like...she's still alive."

I flipped the pages. All were moments of our family life, at the time everyone was normal. My first birthday. Christmas' Eve. Even one with Grandma. And finally, a picture of that one day, where we have played all afternoon. Some months before...her deadline. I almost shed a tear, looking at our happy faces, at the shining sun, at...wait.

"Something's...missing.", I muttered.

I flipped through the pages. Something was weird about all of this. As if indeed, something was missing. Something important.  
Suddenly the door knocked. One large, two small, repeated two times. The Red Bloods' signal. I stood up, and opened.

"Kora! Kankri...what happened?", I asked.

"-Run some hot water, quick. He's gonna die of cold.", Korazu answered. 

Kora was carrying Kankri on his shoulders, who seemed to be completely stoned. Outside the window, tree branches were whipping the walls like crazy. There was no trace of Kan's car at all.

"Did...did you walked all the way back there?", I asked, stunned.

"-Course no, dumbhat. We're not suicidal like you."

"-But...how did-"

"-Quit it. Bring a blanket, he's freezing."

"-What about you?"

"-I don't care. Kankri needs it more than I."

I rose my shoulders, and grabbed some bedsheets from the laundry basket. On his bed, Kankri was shivering under his covers. I pulled the blanket over him, quite frightened by all of the horror movie posters around the walls. 

"How did you get back then? You forgot your wallet there."

"-I said quit."

He stayed at Kankri's side for half an hour, making sure he was warming up, before joining John and I in my room.

"How did you come back home? You couldn't have walked all the way back from the coast, right?"

"-I said shut up!"

His threatening glare was maybe the scariest thing I've ever seen. On the moment, I only thought about closing my lips shut, not to bother anyone else. Korazu fell on his bed, exhausted as well. John and I quit the room, and he showed me the family album.

"So...have you found what you were looking for?"

I hesitated, but as I flipped through the pages, the feeling of something-wrongness came back, this time more precise. I looked at all the photos of Kankri's childhood.

"Is it your mother's face?", he asked.

"-No...that's more than that."

"-Is it a scene in particular?"

I kept searching, shaking my head. Following the growth of my older brother, I kept turning the pages, closely watching the photos, comparing them with the few memories I had or what Dad told me. When Kankri was about three, Mom's clothes started to tighten. Her second pregnancy. I turned the pages, waiting to come across what I expected, and found my baby self.

"That...that's it.", I muttered.

"-So, what was it, in fact? I'm curious."

I got to the very last page, and found a single picture of the whole family, when Mom was still alive. My predictions were right.

"You see how my parents loved their children, right?"

"-And they had to be rich to afford so many paintings."

"-So tell me..."

And I showed him the last picture. Mom and Dad, with their sons on their laps, under the shining sun of that one afternoon.

"...why are there no pics of Korazu in there?"

\---

Ariana slammed her fists on the table. 

"He's cheating! I knew it since the start. That bastard is cheating, and his brother too!"

Erwan Ampora shrugged, counting his rings.

"That runs in the family. Their lil' bro has a new bodyguard. Like if these shits needed to survive. I ain't giving much of their leftovers once they'll meet me."

"-Quit it, fishbreath. The Red Bloods have humiliated us one time too much tonight. And you know the motto."

She threw her knife at the wall, where it landed among darts on the Red Bloods' symbol, a bleeding Cancer sign.

"In this world there is no place for people like you.", Victoria chanted.

"-What about some retribution, guys?"

"-Let's wreck them."

"-And get our coke back."

"-Also."

Among the general mass of verbiage, the shouts and the smoke, a voice made itself suddenly louder. Everyone in the gambling room stopped, looking at the girl who talked.

"You guys are cute and all, but do you realize your pathetic little gang is nothing if you don't have any plan?"

She twisted one of her white braids in her hand. Her sharp teeth and flashy glasses were giving her a creepier stance.

"But if you oysterheads listen to me, maybe we could get to something more serious."

Victoria took a step towards her.

"And who are you?"

The girl smiled. Her beak-like nose was getting way too creepy.

"Gabyl Peixes, whose family is working at a warehouse where I could get some serious stuff. Ever used guns, anyone? Or incendiary torches?"

"-I like her.", Ariana grinned. "But why would you want to help us?"

"-I have some grudge to hold against one of the Reds in particular. But in the meanwhile, if I can help you...well, let me be your guardian angel~"

Arania smiled. Revenge, what a sweet strategy. Soon the Reds' territory would turn blue. And by making that alliance with the Sea Dwellers, even if it was implying going out with Gamzee...no one could ever stop them.

"My friends, the war of the gangs has been declared. Tomorrow, we're gonna show these freaks of Altownia who's the boss here."

Gabyl grinned. Everything was going according to the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> John is literally saying "Oh, look at these tiny buttcheeks~" when talking about baby Karkat.


	6. The day before tomorrow

"If you knew how much I loathe you..."

I stroked the old phtography once again. The face of the young lad, as fresh as the first day I met him, it was so beaming... And his smile, his cute but arrogant smile...  
The black and white paper folded under my clawed fingers, before I straightened it back for the thousandth time. I hadn't got the right to keep ties with my old life, but breaking the rules was what I loved. Stupid guys from Feathers Inc... I still remember the data I've been assignated.  
Gabyl Peixes, Archangel. Codename: Glubber. Gabrielle Parson, Sgt of the 38th Division of US Army forces. Date of birth: 1949. Parents: Meena Parson Sr and unknown. Date of death: 1971. Cause of death: shot by a Vietnamese soldier during an assault. Linked to: nobody. Speciality: Destroyer.  
Soon, memories rose back to the surface. The war. The riots I faced when I came back. The doves. And _him_.  
His face...his smile...the flowers in his hair... Among all the protesters, he was standing out the most. He had rushed to me, stopped my gun, and started blabbering things about peace. Two strands of decolored hair on his forehead looked as if he had four eyes. On the moment, I had found it cute. His voice was quite charming, but I hadn't got the choice; I shot twice. Both hit him in the heart.  
If we would have lived in another situation, I could have listened. We could have been lovers.  
But war doesn't forgive.

"Why do you torment me so much?", I cried out. "Why do you keep pursuing me in my dreams?"

I touched the photo to my lips, in a soft, hateful and tender kiss. I hated him, I hated him more than all the others. He had dared offering his heart to me, he had dared talking lovely with me, he had dared revolting against our country and my patriotism! I hated him, I hated him, and yet he wouldn't stop existing!  
But I still had a card to play. If I hated sticking to the rules, some people out there were bound to them.  
I got up and walked around the containers stacked up in the warehouse. No one else was here, so I could wear my angel form. I looked into my reflection on a metallic surface: a tall, chubby, but elegant lady in a US Army sergeant uniform. Platinium blonde, short hair. A threatening glare on pinkish eyes. And the wings... Large, fuschia hawk wings, sharp as fuck, and very charm...wait. I shook my head, and the illusion of Gabrielle Parson went away. That traumatized, weak sergeant was the past. My face paled away, my wings now appeared black and torn up, unable to fly. On my forehead, instead of a slight reddish trace showing the bullet wound that killed me, was now a dark trail of black blood, which drops were drawing grey lines across my face.  
A fallen angel, bearing the demonic name of Gabyl Peixes. 

"No doubt. That's who I am."

I walked inbetween the stacks of packages and crates, owned by my imaginary mother. Many of these were full of memories from the war. Rifles, uniforms, blowtorches, grenades, and even a tank somewhere. That's a good thing, knowing some Keepers. My ability was way above all of that. I was a Destroyer, and Destroyers don't have to submit to rules. They make them.  
Putting the photography in my inner pocket, taking my human form, I pressed some commands on the wall, and the large doors opened.

"You took your time, dear.", Ariana Serket smirked.

"-Had to do somefin first.", I shrugged. "But hey, help yourselves."

The Sea Dwellers, the Bluebloods and some independant thugs, when combined, represented about a hundred of teenagers. And my warehouse had enough guns for each.  
Take care, dear Four Eyes. I'll kill you for sure this time.

"And remember, guys.", I warned. "I want their leader alive. If anyone can kill Kankri Vantas, it has to be me."

They agreed all at once. That was so easy.

\---

"Give it a try, still."

I hesitated. What if John was right? That would bring some improvement, but still...what if he was wrong? I would pass for an idiot. 

"I'm not sure I can do this."

"-You know deep inside that it doesn't matter. Vas-y, try it out."

I nodded, and walked across the scattered papers. Still, that was weird. Me, having powers? John has been clear on the topic, but I couldn't believe it. According to the angel, there was only one way to find out. 

"Dad?", I asked, sitting on the couch.

He didn't answer, except for a slight snoring. He had spent his night watching old sitcoms as usual. Sadly.  
I resumed talking.

"Dad...why do you keep doing nothing all day? I mean...this situation isn't your fault, but...without you, we'll never be able to get out of here."

He opened a lazy eye. 

"...'nt you have school?"

"-Dad, it's Saturday."

He buried his head in the pillows. Poor one was losing notions of time.

"I know you miss mom, and I do so as well. But we have to get out of the shit we live in. And being stuck in the past won't help today...so, I...think it's time you turn the page...and start being here for us. You should start looking for a new job. You did great at the iron factory, maybe they'll let you come back?"

My words had troubles to come up. But as I talked, Dad seemed to wake up. I kept remembering our old times as a family, how we had been happy back then. By the time I had finished my sentences, he had sat up, listening to me. I tried to find something else to say, amazed by the effect of my words. 

"We can get back to these times we were happy. But we can't do this alone. We have to be together. You, I, Kora and Kankri."

Listening to my inner voices, I hugged him.

"As a family."

He stayed silent. Seconds passed, without an answer. From my room, John was watching the scene, worried. What if I was wrong, as there wasn't anything that could be done? My father was desperate, afterall, even if he had never tasted Kora's drugs. Some words couldn't change someone this lonely.  
But finally, after a long minute of thinking, Kyle Vantas backed away.

"You're right, buddy. I've never been a good father, I know...but I'll catch up. Today, we gotta clean up this place, and tomorrow I'll start looking for a job."

He kissed my hair.

"We'll get out of this, I promise. Now, go fetch a broom, please. This house needs it."

While I was picking up the papers and empty cans, I thought about what just happened. Never through all of Kan or Kora's complaints had Dad ever moved the slightest...and now, he seemed a whole other man. Did I really have this "Inspiration" ability John hadn't ceased talking about?  
I took the trashbags out, John following me in his bird form.

"You were right, bud. But...why me? Why not someone else?"

"-The few Inspirations that appeared through the ages all had a miserable life. That's how they gained the ability to brighten other people's."

"-My life's not miserable."

But when I came back in, I saw a bill taped on the apartment door, reading something along the lines of "Expulsion notice".

"...but it ain't very nice either.", I commented. 

"-I'm sure you'll make it. Afterall, you have a guardian angel~"

"-Can't you stop making this voice whenever you say the words "guardian angel"?"

"-What voice?"

"-That one~"

He trilled.  
All afternoon, I had the feeling that even if things were starting to go better with Dad, there were many other problems left to be solved.  
Starting with Korazu, or whoever he was.

\---

I listened to my advicers, worried about the current situation. The Highbloods were marching. Who could have thought the Sea Dwellers and the Bluebloods could have made an alliance? Especially if the Makaras, the Zahhak sons and the Megido elder were joining in. Our clan was only made of thirty members, including our spies and some fanatic followers.  
I took a huff of my cigarette, while counting in my head. We wouldn't be enough people to defeat them. But we couldn't lose! Our territory was maybe small, but it was strategically necessary.  
My mobile phone buzzed, with a message from my spy at the Blueblood's. I stayed startled; they now had weapons! Now that was unfair. All I had was Dad's old hunting shotgun.

"Do we have any heavy machinery?", I asked. "Like, rifles or something?"

"-Sorry boss, we have searched in vain. There's no way we could procure that in such few time."

I grasped my hair. Why, why was it happening right now? Of all the sorrows and troubles I had, this needed yet to add up!

"Boss?"

I turned my head around to see who talked; Korazu.

"If you're scared of losing, well...let me take care of that. I'll make sure they can't get to you."

"-Hey, Kora, why should we let ya?", an accomplice asked.

"-They're over a hundred, bro."

"-You're stoned again."

Crabbro didn't reply, grinning. He blinked twice.  
The confused and shocked voices calmed down.

"I can handle this, guys.", he said.

Curiously, something in my heart told me to listen. His voice seemed to soothe my angered nerves. I remember how Kora did fight the whole Megido family in a battle of the gangs. And that wrestling with the elder Zahhak, what an achievement! And the night when he took Ampora all by himself, leaving him brokeback. My bro really was...wait. Something was...wrong.  
I shook my head. Everyone in the room was talking about these events that proved Korazu was a master when it comes to fighting alone. I looked at the boy, at his pale hair, his weirdly twisted smile, his slender body...and didn't recognized him at all. In front of me was a complete stranger.  
His eyes met mine, and blinked.  
Memories suddenly came back. Of course he was my brother, even if he was weak as shit and risking his life by taking care of the Highbloods all by himself. He never liked to fight, anyways.  
He twitched, so slightly I doubt anyone but I saw it.

"I'm off.", he said. "Guys, please watch over the Insufferable."

"-Alright, dude." 

"-Wreck them, Crabbro!"

"-You rock!"

Before I could add anything, he disappeared in the corridors of the garages where our reunion was taking place.  
What the fuck just happened?

\---

In the suburbs of Altownia was a large car park, abandoned since the invention of backpack cars. The dusty, littered zone was surrounded by weeds, home of raccoons and hobos, without any streetlights to reveal the crimes perpetuated in the night.  
There would be a gangfight here. 

"This is going too far.", my accomplice muttered. "We have to-"

"-We can't interfere.", I replied harshly. "Humans have their problems, we have ours."

"-But aren't we a little...human as well?", he asked.

I sighed.

"I tried all I could.", he said. "But even my tricks won't last for long. All I did was getting us some time, but...it will end soon."

"-And you will have to drop the mask." 

Four Eyes took a second to think. 

"Not yet."

He opened his wings and disappeared in the shadows, leaving me alone.

"Poor soul...he's really stubborn."

I turned to my companion.

"Don't you think, Niko?"

The green two-mouthed cat nodded.


	7. Today...and then?

I let go of Captor, after having almost convinced Jade to go find that bully of Ampora and get together with him. Some blabber about how they'd be a perfect couple, despite the obvious signs that he wanted to harm her, and this fucker of Sandro gave me all the information I wanted. Inspirational manipulation. 

"We're fixed.", I told John.

"-But why did you exactly needed to blackmail him? What does it have to do with your brother?"

I passed a hand through my hair, not exactly sure as well.

"I needed information. That's all."

Getting out of the night bar I found Captor in, I mentally summarized the problem. I had gathered all the necessary clues so far, I was close, so close from finding the solution. But still...something was missing.

"Say, John...how can you become an angel?", I asked while walking back home.

He seemed to get thinking about it for a long moment, before answering.

"Honestly...I don't know. There are conditions, but I don't know them all. I'm not an Escort."

"-Well...why don't you tell me how _you_ became an angel?"

That startled him. But I pursued:

"I don't even know how you...y'know...got these wings. You're my angel, you can at least tell me that."

He had stopped walking. Maybe I shouldn't have ventured on that ground...afterall, if you were ever given a second chance, how would you react if someone asked you how you died?  
But after a minute, John sat on a bench, telling me to do so, and wrapped me in his wing. I added hesitating:

"If you don't want...that's fine. But I know you can. You're strong enough to tell me, right?"

His breathing was calmer than usual, and that weird impression of peace forced upon his mind gave me the chills. Finally, after a long silence, he spoke up.

"The thirteenth of April 1712."

He looked up, and his gaze got lost in the few midnight stars.

"My mother was no other than Queen Rosellia of Prospit herself. But for some reason, I...wasn't like my siblings. I hated the taste of cold meat and the smell of blood, so...I decided to run away from these savages. My father, who had married her because of her wealth, had seen how wicked she was...and together, as I was his favorite, we took a boat to the land."

I pictured myself the scene: the travel from the farsided siamese islands, the excitation of the journey, the cold and salty wind of the ocean.

"We arrived in Altownia soon after accosting. At the time, we were still somehow wealthy...but my father's buisness has begun to decrease with time. We had a hard time joining both ends, and were often arguing because of that..."

Now that I looked closely, his splenderful outfit seemed somehow old, although still rich-ass. There were stitches and patches hidden by the decorations in various places.

"...but we were happy. Until...that day."

His face started to look even paler than usual...which was really creepy.

"It was a bitter March winter. We could afford ourselves bread, but there wasn't many on sale. I had been given the few coins we had, and was told to go buy some food for the week, and that's what I did. But then...I saw him."

His cheeks turned silvery blue. Was he...blushing? But then, his voice stuttered.

"He was homeless, starving...and despair didn't hide his most beautiful traits. He had looked at me as if I was his saviour, almost crying...he had seen how much money I had, and on the moment I said to myself...it wouldn't matter much if I got home with a little less bread than expected, right? He was in such a pitiful state...so I bought him some food, and...couldn't help but ask something in return...I brought him to a back alley, and...and...he was so desperate, ready to do everything for food! I...I didn't know what had gotten in my head, but he was...so cute...so young..."

He hid his face in his palms, ashamed.

"I could have sworn he had enjoyed it as well, but...I couldn't help but feeling dirty after that. Yet each Saturday I was coming back at the store...and he was there...with his kissable lips and seductive legs...how was I supposed to react? I made sure he wasn't hurt, and always gave him a consequent part of my errands...and he seemed so thankful! I was telling myself not to go anymore, but I hadn't got the choice...and each week, he was there, each time cuter than before... That kept on going for a moment, until my father noticed how much money I was losing, even if it was nothing much. He started to run the errands by himself...and my little boy would still be expecting me, to no avail."

His face concealed in his palms, he started to sob.

"And when I finally had the chance to go back at the store...he had disappeared. I asked everyone if they have seen a young mendicant around, but no one... until that day."

He rose his tear-drenched face from his hands. His tears, in the night light, looked like gleaming sapphires. 

"Even with the snow all over his face and the blue skin, I had recognized him. He got lost during a snowstorm, and...couldn't have survived it. I didn't even know his name...but it was as if a part of myself had been torn off from my body. He had no family, no history, nowhere to go. He was my first lover!"

He wiped some tears off his face.

"So I...buried him in a field...and in his hand, I put an acorn I've found. I didn't know why, but it felt like the right thing to do. And the next day, the 13th of April...I...plucked some venenous plants and...I..."

His voice stopped, stuttering. But I didn't need to hear anything more. That's when I noticed, around his lips, weird reddish spots, as those of a sickness. _Death by poisoning._

"I felt guilty. So guilty. I used him, I tricked him, and I never even got to know him... I would have loved to be his friend. I would have wanted to be his lover, even if at the time... But I regret it. I regretted to leave so much behind. And this regret...this feeling I had about life...might have made me return. But not as a ghost; I didn't have a mission to fulfill before finding peace. I wanted to leave this world...but the memories were holding me back."

I took a moment to think about it.

"I think...this is what decides who becomes an angel or not.", I muttered. "Those who have a last request become ghosts, volatile and spiritual beings who can only communicate their wishes. But those who want to stay become angels. Those who have a good reason to stay...mostly related to someone."

I had the information I needed, once more...but still, that feeling of something missing was there. Seriously, what was it?

\---

In the overwhelming silence of the night, not a single life form was to be seen. There wasn't any light to cover the dark scene of the abandoned park lot, only rusty cars and old pieces of carboard. The place seemed to belong to some anarchy movie scene, seeing all the dusty fog and the litter. No one with their full sanity would ever think about even going there, especially at midnight's time.  
But, slowly, footsteps approached. First, two lone scouts, one from each side of the place. The first one wearing a red headband, the other one having a blue brassard. They glanced all around the park lots, seeming to take mental notes of the dimensions and obstacles of the place, avoiding each other.  
Then, on a different sign for each color, all the others followed.  
Leading the Red Bloods was Kankri. His old shotgun in hand, a bleedy trace drawn across his face into a «69»-like symbol, he was ready to fight, to prove he was the only leader in town. He had awaited for this day way too long, and know was his chance to reconquer his pride.  
At the head of the Highbloods, clad in a military blazer and a long black cloak, Gabyl Peixes was grinning of an evil, distorted smile.  
He didn't know her. She didn't know him. She had nothing to do in this battle. But she knew that her revenge desires would be fulfilled by killing this fucker.  
The two sides stayed silent for a moment, a long instant that seemed to last forever. Only the wind was troubling the creepy, dangerous silence of the scene. Two armies, two rivals, two leaders solely counting on war to get what they wanted. A whole legion versus a small platoon, that's what it looked like.  
A gunshot broke the silence.  
Then, the Gang War began.

\---

My answer came when I bumped into Korazu while getting back home.

"You!", I shouted out, stunned.

The other seemed not to get it.

"Yes, it's me, why?"

"-Quit your blabber. I know that-"

He blinked, and I suddenly lost my words, en proie to a sudden confused mess of thought. But then, John spoke up. 

"Hey, not so fast! Where are you going at such a late hour?"

"-Same question goes to you."

He ran away, towards the suburbs. John shook me up by the shoulders.

"Karkat, come! We have to follow him!"

I nodded, still quite dizzy from that weird impression of confusion. He embraced me from behind, and freed his wings from his human appearance. Flapping some times, he quickly took off, and followed Korazu's path from above. We had to know what was going on.  
Still, I never knew he could run for that long without being tired. We have been following him for a long time now, there's no way he could-  
A sudden flash of light coming from beneath, followed by a deafening gun sound made John lose his balance. As he flapped sideways to regain control of his flight, he instinctively rose his arms to stabilize himself...and accidentally dropped me.  
I screamed out of fear.

"Karkat!!", John shouted, going after me as fast as he could.

I didn't know how high I was falling from, but the chaffing of the cold wind, the gravity pulling me down, my hair blocking my vision...were all familiar. But this time, John unable to fly downwards faster than gravity, there would be no angel to save me in time.  
At the end, I did fell down to my death, afterall. What an irony.  
As I fell down back first, I prepared myself for the sudden shock that would be followed by a ripping pain. The hard slamming of my bones and the concrete, my blood leaving my flesh under the pressure, and my neck being snapped out by some branch or gutter. I was expecting anything to happen. Absolutely anything that could hurt or kill me.  
Except maybe the feeling of arms catching me from behind.  
I didn't know what was going on the slightest, but a warm, familiar feeling absorbed the energy of my fall, as I felt dragged up in the air. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, expecting at any moment to fall again and meet my demise. But, after a minute that seemed endless to me, I indeed felt the ground...albeit softly, this time, as if I was gently put down.

"Are you okay?", the familiar voice asked.

Hesitantly, I opened up one eye. What I saw in the streetlights, despite being prepared for this eventuality, stunned me to the core.  
Korazu was kneeling next to me, still holding my upper half. The dim drugged mist in his eyes has been replaced by a brightness I've never seen before, and he wasn't shaking and shivering as usual. I blinked, trying to chase the illusions away, but there were none; from his back, a pair of crimson dove wings was sprouting out.

"Are you okay?", he repeated.

I pushed his arms away, crawling back. Not so far from here, voices and weird sounds were heard. An angry crowd? Gunshots? I tried to look around, but there was no one in sight but John and this creep that looked like my brother.  
He offered me a hand to stand up, but I denied it, getting on my feet myself, as I faced him. It was Korazu indeed...but something, besides the wings, had changed.

"Look", he started, "we have no time to lose. Kankri's in dang-"

"-Four Eyes."

That stopped him right away.

"Wh...what did you just call me?"

On this moment, memories suddenly rushed to my head, even if I didn't want to recall them. All of these were taken from the photos in the family album, with Korazu being there at various ages. But something felt wrong. Never in these scenes I remembered having talked to him, or seen him in more than one stance. His memory was quite abstract, weird-feeling, as a person's figure photoshopped over a family picture. I shook my head, and all the traces of Korazu faded away, leaving my true memories untouched.

"Your angel memory-alterating trick won't work on me.", I smirked.

Korazu sighed, and stopped the illusion. Suddenly, the last bribes of familiarity vanished, turning him into a complete stranger.

"How did you find out?", he asked.

Even his voice sounded different, although it hadn't changed at all. As an answer, I took some photos from my pocket, and showed them to him.

"Memory can be erased or alterated, but solid proofs remain. And there's only one angel in this sector's department who can use this spell for this long."

He glanced at the photos, and smiled.

"Even if you cheated. Korazu Vantas did exist at one point; but he's never been born. You only took his place."

He chuckled.

"You're more clever than I thought. Clearly you're the son of your mother." 

Before I could ask anything, a reddish flash of light blinded me for a second, then disappeared as quickly. Where Korazu had stood seconds ago, was now a tall man in loose clothes, with midlong hair and a peace symbol necklace. His traits and Korazu's were still the same, although this dude's were inspiring trust and happiness. Right above his paled-out but bright eyes, two locks of hair were bleached out in the same color and size. If one wouldn't look closely enough, the illusion made as if he had four eyes. And on his head was a strange engraved golden circle that looked like a tiara, that he was wearing as a hairband. It inspired me an utmost respect, as Captor told me: Archangels know how to get heard.

"Say, man", he said to John, "what's your opinion on the American intervention in Vietnam?"

"-How could I know? Back in my time we used spindles."

If I hadn't slept too much during my History classes, that'd make this dude coming from the late sixties. He turned around, and faced me. He seemed less of a dangerous drugged freak than Korazu, rather like a peaceful guy right between "standard 70's student" and "flower power hippie", as shown by the withered flowers on his hair.

"They call me Kanira the Crabdad.", he said in a soft, shakeless voice. "I'm Kankri's angel."

"-Wait...does he...?", I stuttered, to Kanira's giggle.

"-There's as much powers in your brother as sympathy in Nixon's face. Means that he didn't need the protection of a Guardian at all."

While talking, he started running to the source of the horrendous gun sounds, with John and I following.

"But I needed to get close to you, Karkat. So I falsified the records I was in charge of, and convinced Feathers Inc. to make him my protégé. Even if now, if he gets killed, I disappear as well. Angel laws."

I blinked. Angel laws? John never told me about this.

"But...why did you want to get close to me?"

"-When I put Egbert on the case, as he was the best match for an Inspiration...one of my friends learned about your existence. They wanted to get to know you, y'know. And as you've already been given an angel, I had no choice but to play the role of Korazu and get to fulfill this mission."

"-But then", John questioned, "why didn't you guys simply asked me?"

Kanira faced him.

"Because this mission was Soulseer's request."

By John's reaction, I knew that this Soulseer, whoever he was, was a feared figure among angels. Suddenly, I felt grabbed by the arm, and lifted onto Kanira's back, who flew up, followed by John.

"Let's not waste time, man. Kankri boy's in danger!"

\---

When they first pulled out their guns, we've been the first to stand back. This shit was some army stuff or something! Never I've seen this kind of weapons on the black market, and yet almost everyone in the Blues had 'em!  
They aimed at us, a hundred against thirty-four. Then this bitch dressed like a soldier or whatever said things about "surrender our territories or suffer". Bitch please; I wasn't called the Insufferable for nothing.  
I aimed my ol' shotgun, and it landed straight into Carlos Makara's throat.

"Fire at will!", the officer suddenly commanded.

Like a single person, all of the fuckers around shot, way too methodically to be some regular gang technique. Aradia, Ruffy and Tinkie fell, either unbalanced or badly wounded. They reloaded their guns in a scary synchronicity, and shot again. Did these fucktards suddenly went military? My crew tried to defend themselves, but we only had baseball bats, crowbars and the like. And they swung. They were hitting, punching, breaking everything in sight, according to a precise pattern we have developed over time. That's when I noticed something.  
No matter how right they were shooting, no one in the Highbloods did actually seem to want to kill. Their bullets, albeit deadly and accurate, were shot to wound and scare the others away, not to kill them. And, on top of all, no one was aiming at me.  
I grabbed my shotgun, and ran through the crowd of Blues and Reds. All of these cold-colored freaks...they almost looked like zombies, doing the exactly same schematic moves at once. Except for this weirdo with the white tentacular braids, who seemed to command them...with her mind? And this black trace on her forehead...it was so creepy! That's where I felt I needed to shoot. I aimed my gun, with an innate accuracy, and pulled the trigger...which shot into void.

"Goin' somewhere?"

I turned around, and saw her, grinning of her weird teethy and distorted smile. She grabbed my neck, and squeezed it as hard as she could.  
The pain ran straight through my body, as I dropped my gun and fell down, her monstruous figure right above mine, wanting to kill me at any costs.

"Kankri!"

The others rushed to help me, but her mind-controlled zombies stopped them. She smiled even wider, her clawed fingers entering my flesh, my blood dripping out in a paralyzing and atrocious pain, while another hand went straight to my heart, ready to tear it apart...  
Suddenly, the pressure disappeared, and my pain as well. The weight of her body was gone. All around me, the fighting sounds were gone, replaced by a deadly silence.  
Footsteps approached. A familiar voice resonated.

"Gabyl Peixes, stop this instant!"

 _Korazu_.

"If you want to fight me, then come and let's battle for real!"

I felt myself lifted from the ground, and brought into cold arms. My neck stopped to hurt, my body recovered from the paralyzis. I opened my eyes, still dizzy.  
I was held by blue-clothed arms, some weird feathery-feeling blanket around me. Everyone had stopped fighting, and the Red Bloods were watching the scene, with a frightened look on their faces. Karkat was there, standing next to the guy who was carrying me. And, in the middle of the space drawn by both camps, this "Gabyl" and Korazu were standing...and both had wings.  
I looked at my brother, now dressed like a hippie. He seemed older...and less crazy. That's when I realized, last day's hallucination of my brother with wings wasn't because of drugs. And how we got back home afterwards was no doubt.

"Y...you!", the white-haired militar stuttered in horror. "How...how dare you looking at me with your filthy four eyes! How dare you speaking to me with the same voice you insulted our nation with!"

She grabbed a revolver from Victoria's hands and shot at the red-winged, older and less stoned-looking Korazu. But as I was shouting a half-dizzy "watch out", the bullet...went straight through him, followed by weird silvery dust particles that formed back into his body. No blood or anything spilled out as she shot again and again, and as he kept standing, not saying anything. But then, he rose his hand, and she suddenly stopped, as if her arm was paralyzed.

"Always relying on weapons to solve your problems?", he asked almost ironically.

"-Let...me...go!", she struggled.

Korazu-like smiled, but without his usual distorted mouth. 

"Why don't you listen, at once? Why do you have to go into such a tantrum whenever you see me? Don't you remember how such behavior had costed you your place as an Archangel? You hadn't got the right to use your old beliefs against another angel!"

"-SHUT UP!!"

She aimed her finger at him, shaping her hand like a gun...and shot!? Fuschia fire beams coming out of her index, straight to Korazu's face. He quickly dodged them with a reflex time I've never seen him with, and suddenly his hands gleamed red. He threw this lazer-like ray at the girl, who jumped sideways and kept firing. Both beams crossed, and the furious explosion threw most of us away. My head hurted when I hit the hard ground, making the sounds of the fight even louder. But where Pinky's beams were made to destroy and grill, Kora's seemed appeasing and warm, I couldn't explain how.  
Their moves, their expressions, and the nature of their attacks...were from another world. Both of them had something in their appearance, their way to move, that was disturbingly creepy and heavenly gracious at the same time. Were they fighting, or were they dancing? I couldn't tell the difference, as there were as much spins, jumps, wing flaps and lights as in some kind of surrealistic ballet. But in their eyes, their faces, the stern expression of warlike anger was showing all the violence of their fight, and the brightness of their energy beams had more in common with a gun's fire than spotlights.  
...whoah, what kind of pot did I smoke to give off such fucking poetry?  
The Red Bloods, ignored from the Blues, had for most of them found somewhere to hide, or were raiding their pockets. Next to Karkat was a weird guy from a museum...who also had wings, which were wrapped around my bro.  
If I got home and saw one of Dad's stories' trolls, I wouldn't be surprised at all. This day has been so weird so far.  
Suddenly, they both stopped, panting, completely wrecked by their dance. Kora rose his head first.

"Gabyl...this is becoming nonsense! Did your officers never taught you to stop and recognize your faults?"

"-Don't speak of my superiors with this filthy mouth of yours!"

She rose both her arms, and Korazu got surrounded by a bright pink light. I saw an invisible hand dragging him around, slamming him on the ground, blocking his magic.  
I heard a horrible cracking sound, and realized in disgusted horror that one of Korazu's wings has been broken. Even if he was a ghosty angel, seeing how he had screamed, he was feeling the pain for real. Then Gabyl's boot pressed against his chest.

"You should have died long ago.", she threatened aggressively.

"-Gabyl, stop this! We both are dead, so why bother?"

He was making a hard effort, speaking without whining or shouting from pain. I could feel it.

"And we both know this isn't enough."

She grabbed her revolver, and pointed it at Kora, who started to freak out. 

"Whoah, calm down! You know this can't kill me!"

"-Why are you scared then?"

She pointed her handgun at him as well, which lit up of a weird orange light.

"Will that make the cut?"

"-Stop! Just...stop it!"

Why wouldn't he run away? Was she mindblocking him as well? And what was this "already dead" stuff??

"Gabyl...you wouldn't be coward enough to shoot a disarmed and injured man, would you? Did Sergeant Aurthour taught you that? Would he be proud of you?"

She shot with the "real" gun into his eye, and failed to hurt him.

"Maybe..."

She then pointed the gun at...me!?

"Will that satisfy you?"

Kora started to panic as hell.

"Wait! D...don't hurt him! That's fine, you got me...I surrender! I'm all yours, for your endless torture or whatever sexual tension you got...but don't touch Kankri!"

And then, she laughed. An evil, creepy laughter that gave me the chills, more than the gun only three meters away from my face.

"Dear, sweet Kanira...", she chuckled. "If war had taught me something, it's..."

Her smile suddenly vanished into the scariest face I've ever seen in my life.

"As long as the enemy is exterminated, killing civilians is fine."

And she shot.  
I heard the gun. I saw the bullet going straight towards my chest. I saw Korazu, trying to escape, but met by an invisible force that blocked him. I saw the Red Bloods, screaming, stopped from acting by the zombies. And I felt the ground hitting my back. All of this in one second.  
But I never felt the pain of the gunshot. Instead, a heavy weight landed upon my stomach, cutting my breath. I rose my head, trying to see what was going on...and saw Karkat, embracing me.  
I didn't know how or why, but he had pushed me to the side, preventing my death.

"K...kan...", he stuttered.

What the fuck...what the everloving fuck was going on in this kid's head? What was wrong, for fuck's sake? Why did he have to do this? I tried to talk, but fear had frozen my lips.  
Gabyl shot again, but realized in awe that all of her bullets were gone. And her other hand being busy controlling Kora and the Highbloods, she would have troubles fetching some.  
Speechless, I rested my hand in Karkat's hair. He had saved me. He...he had saved me! Why that? Why did I deserve to be saved, especially by the favorite target of my drunken fists?  
The blue angel arrived, and helped us to stand up. But even if I could stand while being dizzy, Karkat fall again, a hand pressed on his side, whining of pain. His fingers were covered in blood.  
Don't tell me...no! 

"Are...are you alright, dude?", I asked. 

He didn't answer, and grabbed my arm with his other hand, relying on me to stand still. The blue angel tried to heal the wound with some blue light, but that didn't work. The bullet had crossed his ribs sideways, but as he coughed blood, I started fearing it had perfored his lungs, or even his heart.  
But Gabyl wouldn't stop there. She grabbed the hunting shotgun I had dropped earlier, and walked to me, loading it with an expert's gesture. I tried to stand back, but tripped over a rock, and fell miserably.  
Suddenly, Karkat stood before the angel, arms barring her way.

"Move aside.", she commanded.

Despite his apparent pain, he stood still, looking at her straight in the eyes.

"Get away!", she threatened, "Else I might kill you as well."

Karkat smirked.

"Would Sergeant Aurthour be proud of you, Gabrielle?"

Suddenly, she twitched. Her torn-up feathers slightly rose, as if moved by goosebumps.

"Would your mother be proud of what you have become?"

Karkat's words seemed to make her slightly wince, so slightly it seemed awkward. She threatened to kill him just a moment ago, for fuck's sake! Why would she stop...it was a complete nonsense! But still, one hand pressed over his wound, he kept looking at her.

"Just...look where your anger had led you, look at what you have become! You're nothing more than...a robot, a killing machine! You have spent your life in war, your afterlife in revenge...don't you think it...would be time to...give up?"

He grabbed her arm with his other hand, relying on her.

"What do you have against Kanira? Why do you hate him so much? A...answer me!"

At first, she didn't. But then, she...started to cry? Indeed, she was falling into tears, dropping my shotgun, as Karkat was hugging her, patting her shoulder.

"It's fine...it's never too late to apologise."

She looked at him, sobbing.

"But...what if he rejects my excuses? What if...what if he wants to kill me?"

"-Kanira, killing anyone? That's pure nonsense."

While she cried, "Kanira" approached, and gently held her hand.

"You know, peace is often the only solution."

He hugged her, with his arms and unbroken wing. 

"And I forgive you. I forgive you everything."

She stayed silent for a long instant, before finally falling into his arms. But then after, I didn't understand.  
Kanira took his weird golden ring off his head, and crowned Gabyl with it. At first, she looked questioning, but then smiled, and kissed him on the cheek. Slowly, her wings turned pink, and repaired themselves from their horrendous "bird's plane accident" aspect. The black blood disappeared, and her skin lost this unnatural paper-white taint. She held Kanira's hand.

"I'm sorry. For...killing you and all."

"-I know."

The Highbloods woke up from their zombie transe, and freaked out when they saw the three angels.  
Suddenly, I remembered, and scarily ran to Karkat, who was still losing a whole lot of blood.

"H...hey...", he smiled.

"-Hey, bro, wait! You can't just die right now!"

I tore up a piece of my coat, and wrapped it around his chest, trying to stop the blood. Kanira hovered a red-gleaming hand above the wound, while I was freaking out like mad, but not as much as the blue angel.

"Fuck it...", Kanira sighed. "We're too late."

"-No, we aren't!", I shouted. "We have...we have to so something!"

"-Kankri, he's about to die! What do you think you can do to stop it? If you call an ambulance, then you'll give yourselves a lot of troubles! How will you explain that an angel did this?"

"-Angel...with a shotgun...", Karkat giggled. "Looks like some song name..."

The blue angel held his hand.

"So...there it ends. And there I fail."

"-That wasn't your fault, Egbert.", Kanira sighed.

He stood up, and looked at the night moon.

"She will be there soon. I think you might stay as well, Kankri."

Wait...who's that she? And what did it have to do with me? Why would no one do something to help Karkat?  
But then, as I heard the sound of flapping wings...I looked up, and saw a dark figure descending from the skies. An angel, who landed in front of Karkat. The blue angel flipped out, turned into a bird, and hid in my pocket. But I didn't care; my eyes were locked on the hooded figure that just arrived.  
Slowly, it turned to Kanira, and shook its head. The latter had a sad expression, and I could guess it wasn't good news. But then, it turned to me...and took its hood off.  
I lost every single word of my vocabulary, every single sound from my throat, and nearly lost consciousness. I rubbed my eyes, unsure of what was happening...but as she spoke my name, as she revealed her mass of red hair, her black eyes, I realised there was no mistaking.  
I didn't listen to what she was saying. The thought of her being there...as Kanira said, it was amazing. She put a hand on my shoulder, and smiled. I gathered all my forces, but only managed to stutter one word.

"M...mom...?"

She nodded, smiling wider, and hugged me. Her embrace, her perfume...these were the same! Even her old Cancer-shaped pendant engraved in runes was the same. I wrapped my arms around her stout figure, buried my face in her neck, and cried like a bitch.  
Her voice, her soft voice...I missed it so much.

"Karkat.", Kanira then said. "I guess you already know my friend, Soulseer."

Soulseer. One who sees souls, ghosts. One like Carmina Vantas, my mother, and her everlasting imaginary friends...who were currently on her shoulders. The green cat and the red crab.  
She took Karkat into her arms, ignoring the fact he was already half-dead. She talked to him, about how she missed him, how she never got the chance to know him. The same words she just spoke to me, that left a heavy weight on my chest. I looked at her. She was so different from what I remembered... I never saw her with hair that long, or such pinkish cheeks, or such a smile. I never have known her before she got sick. And she had never known us.  
I held her hand like a little boy, and she wrapped her green wing around me. 

"I'm sorry, my sons. But...it's time to go."

"-Please...", I whined. "Stay...a little longer! Please!"

She kissed me on the forehead, with all the love she could give. That made me cry even more.

"You're sad, but it will end someday, Kankri. My duties will soon end; another Escort will be born. Then, nothing will stop me from seeing you and your father anymore."

I sobbed, curling more into her cozy feathers. She then turned at Kanira.

"The real Korazu says hello, and also that he's not proud of what you're doing with his identity."

"-Tell him that it isn't a problem."

He snapped his fingers, and the crowd of people watching the scene suddenly fell asleep.

"Everyone will forget all of this, and all about Korazu Vantas."

"-Good."

She rose her wings, and flapped up, taking my dying brother with her. Suddenly, the blue angel exit from his hideout.

"Ex...excuse me, madam, but...well...I..."

"-Don't worry, John. Karkat did use his powers to eliminate the Cherub inside of Glubber. He didn't need an angel to protect him anymore, so you won't disappear."

He sighed of relief.

"Thank you. I still have...something to do."

Kanira and Gabyl looked at each other.

"See how she called you?", he said. "You're welcome again at Feathers Inc., my friend."

She smiled wide, and hugged him.  
I sat on an old crate, unsure what to think about. But as I watched my mother flying away with Karkat's corpse, I surprised myself to, indeed, believe in a life after death. 

"How could I ever explain that to dad...", I sighed.

The blue angel, John, sat next to me.

"I think he deserves to know. From all the photos I have seen, he loved his family more than anything. Especially his wife."

And he handed me pieces of paper. I glanced at them, and nearly fell into tears again. Those were photos, of our family, our happy moments, all sorts of things I had forgotten. I smiled widely.

"I'm lucky to have such a family."

But my smile turned into a pout.

"Where everyone but me has got powers."

"-You don't need powers to do the good around you. First, why not going back to school, or reunite with your father, whose only family left is you?"

"-Karkat's tricks won't work with you."

An instant passed. I thought about the proposition.

"But why not. That's a good start."

I yawned, and went to pick up my shotgun. 

"Better get back home, don't you think, Kora?"

But no one answered.  
I looked around, not recalling having seen him going away. Weird, I could have sworn he was there a minute ago. That's when I saw, on the ground, two strange crown-like jewels looking like Kanira's. I picked them up, and trailed my finger across the strange engraved runes. One had them red, the other had them pink.

"Must be worth a lot on Nile.com.", I giggled.

But soon, they vanished into angelic dust, to my dismay.

"Archangels are needed to be in a constant number, all the time. When one moves to the afterlife, another one is called."

I sighed, and walked back home, John following me.

"Say...do you think that...Karkat's in the afterlife now?"

"-Depends...but seeing how he hated his life and had no last wish, why would he return?"

"-You sure of that?", a familiar voice smirked, right behind us.

I froze, and turned around. Then, silence fell.  
I surprised myself to smile again as I ran to hug my little brother, who opened his arms kindly. This...this was a miracle! How could he be there, looking like an hallucination, but so real under my arms? Suddenly, he cringed and stepped back, apparently hurt.

"I know you're glad, but...please watch out. Having all of my blood, half of my bone marrow sucked out and two extra limbs stitched without anesthesy...that hurts more than it seems." 

He smiled. Something...something in his expression, his face, was different. The same something as on John, Kanira, Mom and Gabyl. It suddenly came to me in such a shocking revelation.

"You...you're...", I stuttered.

He giggled, and spread out his arms, as if he wanted to cuddle the sky, in a drama-worthy pose, as if summoning the forces of the wind. But...nothing happened. He flickered his hands uselessly, to no avail, and sighed.

"John, please...what's your trick again?"

"-Inhale deeply, release your arms, and exhale slowly.", he replied.

Karkat nodded, and breathed in. One second later, two long, short-feathered red wings unfolded from his back. A seagull's. 

My jaw dropped.

"Pretty, huh? I admit, the Judges staring at me and all, and their great balance thing, they were really freaking me out...but for this result, it was totally worth."

He tried to flap, but only managed to blow away some leaves, his wings being out of synch. John held his hands, and showed with his own wings how to take off. Following him, Karkat managed to lift himself about a meter high.

"Whoah, that's harder than it seems!"

"-You'll get used to the feeling."

John flew around, and Karkat followed clumsily. I laughed as I watched the two angels move freely into the sky, jealous of their wings and freedom...but also happy for my loner of a brother.

"Kankri?"

I looked up, interrupted from my thoughts.

"Please...if Dad asks, then..."

I silenced him.

"Seriously. How can I explain the disappearance of Korazu and Karkat Vantas to anyone? How can I explain a hundred of teens knocked out, the blood on my clothes and the guns with unknown fingerprints?"

John and Karkat looked at each other, confused. Suddenly, my brother snapped his fingers.

"Gimme your phone."

I rose an eyebrow.

"Who you gonna call?"

"-Trust me."

I hesitated, worried about what he was doing, but handed it to him, who selected the camera.

"John, give a smile!"

The two angels cuddled sideways, and took a couple of selfies. When Karkat handed the phone back to me, I looked at the photos. Their wings were in plain sight, and the date and time would leave no doubt about the photoshop-less nature of these.

"If Dad asks, tell him how Mom is pretty. Describe her as you saw her. He won't ever put that in question. And if no one believes in angels, show them these pics."

He hesitated, before reaching under his shirt, producing Mom's Cancer necklace, and gave it to me. 

"This is her family heirloom for us...but since you're the only one out of her three sons who still lives, I think it's yours now."

He then put it around my neck. I looked at the engraved runic letters, nostalgia running up to my eyes. My hands shaking, I stayed silent for a second, before looking up to him.

"Don't go...not you!"

"-I'm sorry, Kan. But this isn't a farewell."

He hugged me, with both arms and wings.

"We'll meet again. But now, sun has to rise, and life has to follow its course."

He then plucked one of his red, grey-tipped feathers, and gave it to me. On the moment, it felt as if I just had received the most precious gift ever, as I held it against my chest.

"Wait...wait, Kar, don't go!"

But by the time I had risen my head, they were gone.  
I fell on my knees, lost in all of the angelic shenanigans, the feather in one hand and the pendant in the other, and let a tear fall as I watched the last stars in the dawn sky.  
I smiled, and adressed a mental Red Bloods-special handshake to Korazu and Karkat.  
Still, I was jealous.

\---

"Legend says it is like, three centuries old."

As I brought John to the lower part of the town, I kept thinking about all the myths going about the library. Many said it was, indeed, haunted. But no one had the proof, even despite the obvious facts.  
Until today.  
John gasped when he first got a glance of the Victorian-like building, constructed according to his epoch's architectural fashions. The large windows and apparent wooden frame were the idea of a historian who, about twenty years ago, had wanted to restore Altownia's ancient patrimony. I never really knew the concept behind this library where most of the books were 1700's classics. But as John walked through the shelves, looking at the titles (and with only his wings hidden, his outfit was perfect for the settings, to the librarian's hppiness), he felt as if he had gone back in time. But that wasn't the best yet.  
Behind the library was a small garden, where frequent patrons could sit and read a copy of some good ol' novel. And in the middle of this peaceful square was a giant oak tree.

"I have done some research, and...I guess it's that one. The spirit of this tree protects the neighborhood, as never there has been a single accident or fire there."

But John wasn't listening. His eyes and hands were all turned to the centenary plant, whose branches seemed to dance in John's minty wind. He placed his palms amd forehead on the trunk, and closed his eyes.  
For a brief instant, I saw someone else aside from us. A thin, translucent wind-like silhouette, hugging John from behind. I couldn't tell who it was, but the youth and beauty emanating from him (although his traits could also be a girl's) were the only things I kept in mind.  
But the illusion ceased as quickly. There was only John and I in this garden.  
Eventually, after a long peaceful moment, John parted from the tree, and left a single kiss on its wood.

"Thank you.", he smiled.

He turned to me, and flew by my side.

"So...what did he say?", I asked.

John took a moment before answering.

"Let's just say...I'll stay there for a little longer than planned."

"-Wherever you'll go, I'll be. You're why I stayed here, afterall."

We laughed, and I hugged him.

"Best friend."

Under the protective shadow of the oak tree, reading a Prospitian drama, my wing wrapped around John as he was mind-talking to his lover, I felt happy for the first time in years. Death wasn't much of a bother, afterall. And when John's boyfriend's soul will be freed, we'll get all together into the afterlife. All our old friends will be there. Kanira and Gabrielle as well. John will find his father, and I guess that Ghosty had some family somewhere. We'll all flock together in the end, like birds of a feather.  
Like angels of a feather.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note on angel powers:  
> All angels can alter people's memories. However, when they do it for too long on too many people, it starts getting less and less efficient. Kanira is an Archangel, so he manages to do it, but can only mantain one illusion at the same time. This explains why Kankri (in the previous chapter) switches from "this guy is my brother" to "this guy is a fighter", as Kanira cant keep on both masks.  
> Destroyer angels are made to erase one's existence from time or memories. They are usually assigned to abused or traumatized humans to help them forget, but they do have sick-ass literal destruction powers.  
> When she was human, the antagonist was named Gabrielle Parson. When she died, her angel name was Glubber. When she became a fallen angel for trying to kill Kanira beyond death, she took on the name of Gabyl Peixes.  
> Karkat's mother is Carmina from [With love, Crabby kitten](http://archiveofourown.org/works/886888). Karkat and Kankri's story gets continued in [Nothing but words](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6529186), which is the series' finale.


End file.
